One third of all voters undecided in party preference

BBJ

Thursday, August 24, 2017, 08:52

Eight months before the next general elections in Hungary, the composition of the overall voting public has not changed much: one third are undecided or have no party preference, while half of the electorate supports Fidesz, Jobbik or the Socialists (MSZP). Fidesz still leads the way clearly among party-committed voters.

Graphics: party preferences of all voters in August (source: zaveczresearch.hu)

Pollster Závecz Research released comparative figures for June, July and August on the political preferences of the Hungarian electorate. According to the findings, published by online news portal index.hu, the support of Fidesz among all voters rose back to 26% in August, as it was in June, after a 2 percentage-point drop in July. At the same time, there are fewer undecided voters now than in July, their proportion decreasing by 2 percentage points from 38% to 36%.

The percentage of Jobbik supporters has been stable in the last three months, at 13%. The Socialists, however, are seen as continuously losing voters, their support melting from 13% in June to 10% in August. The rest of the opposition parties (DK, LMP, Együtt and others) all remain at or below the threshold for entry into Parliament. Newcomer Momentum stands at just 1%.

The ranking of the parties among committed voters of specific parties - which index.hu notes applies to only around one-third of the total electorate - is the same: Fidesz has a comfortable lead, rising in August by a further percentage point, from 42% to 43%. Jobbik has stable 20% support among committed voters, while MSZP has been slipping steadily, now polling 17%. The Democratic Coalition (Demokratikus Koalíció, DK), led by former PM Ferenc Gyurcsány, stands at 8%, the same as in June and July, while LMPʼs support looks somewhat unstable, with 5% in June, 4% in July, and back to 5% in August. Együtt and Momentum both stand at 2%.

The Závecz poll was conducted over the period August 10-17, on a sample of 1,000 people representing the populace of the country aged 18 and over.

Overall trust in EU steady

Another recent poll cited by index.hu and compiled by Eurobarometer, which conducts public opinion surveys regularly on behalf of the European Commission, shows the levels of trust in the European Union among European citizens.

The European average indicates a stronger distrust (47%) than trust (42%), although it must be noted that the trends, compared to 2016, show a 6 percentage-point growth of those who support the EU and a 7 percentage-point decrease of those who do not.

In Hungary, the ratio shows a level of 46% trust towards the EU (with 4% growth from last year) and 49% distrust, which is one percentage point less than in 2016.

Of all EU states, in only three states has trust in the EU decreased, and even then not significantly, by one or two percentage points. These countries are Belgium, Poland and Slovakia, the poll shows.

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